By Noah Myers

Saint George Melkite Greek Catholic Church is a beautiful combination of modern architecture and ancient worship. The worship inside the church can feel anachronistic after one has experienced the building’s contemporary exterior, but the church’s worship is needed in this modern era. Each service teaches eternal presence of Christ in the world and his special eminence in the church. Father Justin Rose shouts the phrase topping their website, “Christ is among us,” and with the several pictures of Christ, his angels, and his throne placed in the blue sky of the ceiling, it is difficult to feel that you are anywhere other than Christ’s heavenly home.

Heavenly Worship Realized

Built in 1957, this church may find its home in Birmingham, Alabama, but its roots lie in the Byzantine liturgical tradition, which Eastern Catholic churches like it share with the Eastern Orthodox. It is easy to hear with the multilingual worship, chiefly in the English, Greek, and Arabic singing of the Kyrie Eleison or Lord have mercy. This diversity of language is one of the first pictures of heavenly worship, showing that worship at the throne of the Lamb will be from people of every tribe and tongue (Revelation 7:9). They also worship with the many texts of scripture, especially the song of the seraphim in Greek: Hágios, hágios, hágios, Kýrios Sabaṓth, meaning “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts.” They also invoke the name of saints like St. Basil the Great, whose liturgy they celebrated when I visited because it was during Great Lent, and Mary by their name for her: the Theotokos, or “God bearer.” They invoke her name to seek her prayers because as Christ’s mother she is particularly close to him: “Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O savior, save us.” They talk to the saints and as if they are in heaven with them, reinforcing the presence of heaven and God’s kingdom. As seen here, participation in heavenly worship is the purpose of Byzantine worship. From the blue paintings to the cloud of witnesses surrounding the congregation, heaven is here.

Ancient Rituals Rich With Symbolism

The telos, or purpose, of worship at St. George is matched by the liturgy’s austere, welcoming, and meditative character. Many aspects of worship echo the honors given the Roman emperor, such as a royal procession, regal vestments, and incense burning. However, the kingdom of this worship is no longer earthly or temporal, but is God’s eternal, immutable kingdom of heaven.

One of the services I attended was on the Sunday of the Holy Cross, the third Sunday of Great and Holy Lent (March 23 in 2025). On this Sunday, the Orthodox Church “commemorates the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Services include a special veneration of the Cross, which prepares the faithful for the commemoration of the Crucifixion during Holy Week.” Thus, after the service, the priest and his deacons processed with the congregation around the church carrying the cross and two ceremonial fans containing the images of Christ the Ruler of All and Mary the Theotokos: More Spacious than the Heavens.

Extending this veneration, the priest stood in front of the iconostasis (the wall or screen of icons) with the relic of the True Cross, allowing congregants to come up to kiss it, the cross, and receive, blessed bread (antidoron). The True Cross refers to the actual cross that Jesus was hung upon. A small relic from it is contained in a large crucifix venerated by the congregation.

Members of the congregation would kiss the priest’s hand because his fingers formed the Greek initials of Jesus Christ: Iota and Chi, so it is as if they kiss Christ. The blessed bread, or in the Greek antidoron meaning “instead of gifts,” is bread that was not consecrated in the eucharist. It can be given to visitors as a sign of friendship and hospitality.

During the service, the priest processed numerous times around the church to bless the icons with singing and incense by swinging the thurible toward them. Some people believe this to be idolatry but it is not. All this honor given to images cascades through a series of images reaching Christ who is the primary image by which God has shown himself to us. In the Little Entrance, the priest also processed around the church with an ornate book of the Gospels, showing the importance they put on the Gospel stories and the messages they contain.

Christ is Among Us!

The most significant point of the service was Christ’s presence. The King of All, Christ Jesus, was felt immanently, transcendently, and closely throughout the liturgy in the scriptures, the iconography, and the holy sacrament. From an outsider’s perspective, the liturgy is difficult to follow and understand at times, but when meditated upon, deep truths are able to gathered from it just like Christ. During Christ’s ministry, almost no one understand what he was saying, and this was on purpose:

As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven. (Mark 4:10-12 NASB1995)

Jesus’ disciples only understood him because he explained the mysteries of his teaching in parables to them, but everyone else was left out. The same might be said of an outsider’s experience of Byzantine worship.

When educated about the origins and meanings of St. George’s liturgy, one believes in Immanuel, God with us, and the communion of the saints. We can join the cloud of witnesses and boldly stand at the throne of God in worship to sing and behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The church joins with two thousand years of Christian worship every week in ancient ritual that has been tried and shown to be true. Heaven follows us as we go into the world with the Holy Spirit to fulfill the calling of Christ to live in the resurrection. Never has it been truer to say Christ is among us.

St. George’s Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Address: 425 16th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35205
Website: https://www.saintgeorgeonline.org/
Video archive: https://www.youtube.com/@saintgeorgemelkite/streams
Services observed: The Divine Liturgy on Saturdays, March 22 and 29, 2025
Affiliation: Melkite Greek Catholic Church (an Eastern Catholic church of the Byzantine rite, in full communion with the Holy See in Rome)
Congregation established: 1921

References

Bains, David R. “St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church.” Chasing Churches, April 13, 2024. https://chasingchurches.org/2023/09/06/st-george-melkite-greek-catholic-church/.

Beall, JD, Matheus Bagatin Lopes, Brendan Loftus, Riley Fraser, and Livi White. “St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church.” Magic City Religion, February 25, 2024. https://magiccityreligion.org/2019/12/17/st-george-melkite-greek-catholic-church/.

Howard, Will. “St. George Melkite Church’s Liturgies.” Magic City Religion, February 27, 2023. https://magiccityreligion.org/2021/05/20/st-george-melkite-churchs-liturgies/.

“Learn: Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America – Orthodox Church.” Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 2023. https://www.goarch.org/sunday-venerationcross-learn.

“Prosphora – The Bread of Life – Holy Theophany Orthodox Church.” Holy Theophany Orthodox Church. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://theophany.org/orthodox-faith/prosphora/.

“Saint George Melkite Greek-Catholic: Church Community: Birmingham Al.” St. George Melkite. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.saintgeorgeonline.org/.

Noah Myers ’25 was a student in Christian Worship: History & Theology in Samford University’s Department of Biblical and Religious Studies in spring 2025.